4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[Cynthia12]

Can you go through this again? I have it about 35 % right now. Do I take it up to 60-62 for lockdown and then up again for pipping or do I take it up to 62 and then that is it?

Keep it around 60 to 62 during lock down. You don't need it much higher than that, if it goes up or down a degree, don't panic, just add a small amount of water until you get it around the 60 to 62 again, or, just leave it for a while if it gets to 64 ~ no biggy.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Good Morning...

Don't forget to vote: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...utest-baby-picture-contest-pole#post_10160637

bump

 

[Sally Sunshine]

morning all ........... bunch of over achieving eggs over here ................ lots of internal pips and peeping going on(ducks). Had to sort load hatching trays and up the humidity early. Need to finish setting up the chicken dividers and be ready to sort them for hatching.

DUCKS! How long from internal pip to external... we had an internal at 1AM and no external.... when I tapped on it last night it didnt quack at me do they? chicks always do?

 

[chiqita]

Am I the only one not getting notifications? WTH

nope, a lot of people are not getting them atm.

 

[janelle18]

so what do I do with all the dud eggs i have?

 

[TMNfarm]

Got my trays all ready to go into the incubator... I think I figured out how to separate everything!!! 1 1/2 hours till lockdown...

 

[Cynthia12]

This has already been answered. I usually hatch mine at 65% (though if you fill the all the water tray on the genesis, it will bring the humidity to exactly 75%, which has worked too).
I really think the key is in not opening the Bator. If you run a 50% and do not open te Bator once, you still will have enough humidity for the chicks to hatch with out problems. If you run a 50% and open the Bator for any reason after eggs have externally pipped, you have a high chance of getting glued chicks. I remember talking to some people about the difference between shrink wrapped and sticky(I call tem glued) chicks.
Shrink wrapped is caused by low humidity for a duration of incubation, causing moisture loss in the membrane. High humidity can help at hatch, but the biggest problem is the ability for te chick to move in the membrane.
Sticky (what I called glued) is low humidity (or draft of low moisture air from opening Bator) after external pip. This causes the normal papery membrane that should be in the egg to get glue like and stick to the chick (stick to anything!) making movement darned hard for the chick to move and properly escape the shell. If you have a seriously glued chick you may have to assist, though last resort. A spritz with a sanitized water bottle can help the egg and the incubator if you open it. I had to help a sebright a few days ago. It pipped in my incubator score I moved it to the hatcher. The time and change it took to move the egg from the Bator to hatcher caused bad glued membranes. Luckily, I didn't have any other pips so I could help it with out worrying about getting into the Bator.
Though I don't recommend it for those who aren't familiar with hatching, I have found running a 75% humidity can allow quick peeks into the hatcher to make changes or grab a bunch of chicks if they are being to rough with the other eggs. 75% seems high enough that the humidity doesn't drop down to levels that cause stickiness, if done quickly.
I have only hatched duck eggs once (never again, I can't stand the mess ducklings make) but mine took a LONG time, compared to chickens, to go from iternal pip to hatch. Mine peeped, and I think it took three days to hatch after I started noticing peeps and internal pips. I really thought they weren't going to make it, but 10/11 hatch just fine!

This is very good ~ well put ~ I don't keep the humidity at 75, but I raise it when I want to snatch a very busy little one in there while the other eggs are trying to hatch. I raise it to around 70, and that's with a still air..holds humidity like no other..then of course, like someone said, the humidity spikes anyway once a little one is hatched..I take that opportunity to snatch a chick out..have my brooder nice and warm, and let them fluff out there. Everyone has their own way at hatch time. What ever works for you. For the new folks hatching, this is a time of learning for sure. You may want to take from here, and take from there for help, nothing wrong with that! There are some good suggestions from people that have hatched many times.

 

[cochins1088]

I went downstairs to check my bator, and the temp was 102.4!!!! It was in the 101's last night, so I turned it DOWN. I know I turned it down, I double checked... So why did my temp go UP??? I hope it didn't hurt anything! I'll be pretty bummed if something catastrophic happens this far into the hatch!!

102.4 in a still air incubator most likely won't kill them. The temperatures probably increased because the chicks are creating larger amounts of body heat as they develop. I usually have to turn mine down a bit later in incubation because of this, but I don't know why yours would spike that high unless the room temperature increased.

 

[Cynthia12]

102.4 in a still air incubator most likely won't kill them. The temperatures probably increased because the chicks are creating larger amounts of body heat as they develop. I usually have to turn mine down a bit later in incubation because of this, but I don't know why yours would spike that high unless the room temperature increased.

 

[Cynthia12]

Ok, so you all get to go into lock down today..yaay, I'm happy for you. You've waited long enough right?




Now, I guess this is what I'll be doing while I watch and wait... because I want to see the early babies, and I'm hoping there is a cam somewhere..and, I like to see who is asking what, and because, I'm just nosey.



Good luck to all! Waiting now.